Video Shows Emu Dodging Traffic, Running Away From Cops In Houston

The large ostrich-like bird was eventually captured and returned to its owner.
Emus are large flightless birds native to Australia. They are related to ostriches, but a bit smaller.
Emus are large flightless birds native to Australia. They are related to ostriches, but a bit smaller.
corinnamueller / 500px via Getty Images

A flightless bird was stuck using its two feet as it darted through traffic during an escape in Houston.

Police said they responded to a “traffic hazard” when residents spotted an emu roaming the city’s streets on Thursday, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Drivers in the area, including Twitter user @RatchetNerd_, shared clips of the emu ― mistaken for an ostrich, its larger cousin ― as it paraded through the city.

The video shows the emu running through an intersection and toward oncoming traffic as it dodges vehicles.

You can watch the Twitter user’s clip below.

Another clip, originally posted by Facebook user Yvette Justice Fleming and shared by Houston news station KTRK-TV, shows the emu leading police cars on a slow-speed chase.

“Uh oh, he’s taking off running. He’s moving now. What on Earth?” Fleming said in the video. “Who in the world? What the? Are you? Y’all, that is crazy to me.”

Police were eventually able to get the emu and return it to its owner, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The emu wasn’t the only animal to make a surprise cameo in Houston this week.

Days earlier, a doorbell camera captured a group of cows moseying through a Houston neighborhood, KHOU-TV reported.

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